Oakwood Cemetery (Syracuse, New York)

	Oakwood Cemetery
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Oakwood Cemetery – 1909
Location	940 Comstock Avenue; Syracuse, New York, United States
Coordinates	43°01′53″N 76°08′08″W / 43.03139°N 76.13556°W
Area	160 acres (65 ha)
Built	1859
Architect	Howard Daniels
Website	http://www.oakwoodofsyracuse.com/
NRHP reference No.	91000522
Added to NRHP	May 9, 1991

Oakwood Cemetery is a 160-acre (65 ha) historic cemetery located in Syracuse, New York. It was designed by Howard Daniels and built in 1859. Oakwood Cemetery was created during a time period in the nineteenth century when the rural cemetery was becoming a distinct landscape type, and is a good example of this kind of landscape architecture.^[2]

Mortuary chapel, designed by J. L. Silsbee, Oakwood Cemetery (2016)^[3]

The original 92 acres (37 ha) included about 60 acres (24 ha) of dense oak forest with pine, ash, hickory and maple. A crew of 60 laborers without large-scale earth moving equipment thinned and grouped the trees; today there are many 150-year-old specimens. Students of SUNY-ESF and Syracuse University, whose campuses are adjacent to Oakwood, can regularly be seen in the cemetery for instruction on plant species, capturing insect specimens, cemetery studies, or mammal surveys.^[2]

History

Oakwood was an immediate success after its dedication in November 1859. Thousands of visitors led to the establishment of omnibus service directly to the cemetery gates. Additions to the original acreage were laid out in a manner sympathetic to the original design.^[2] The Oakwood Cemetery project, run by Syracuse University libraries, digitizes and preserves valuable cemetery records.^[4]

Notable interments

Notable interments at Oakwood Cemetery include:

Anna Short Harrington (1897–1955), Working at the time as A Syracuse house maid, Anna Was discovered by “Quaker Oats Co." in 1935 while cooking her locally famous pancake recipe at the Syracuse state fair, at which time she became the marketing face of “Aunt Jemima”; An institutionally racist depiction of the “Mammy”-stereotype, used as a marketing tool.
Charles Andrews (1827–1918), chief judge of the NY Court of Appeals
Edward Gayer Andrews (1825–1907), a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church
Maltbie D. Babcock (1858–1901), 19th-century clergyman and author
Union Major General Henry A. Barnum (1833–1892), recipient of the Medal of Honor
Willis B. Burns (1851–1915), businessman, Mayor of Syracuse, member of the New York State Assembly
George F. Comstock (1811–1892), lawyer, politician, and judge, previous owner of the land tract where the cemetery stands
Stephen D. Dillaye (1820–1884), politician, lawyer, journalist
Herbert H. Franklin (1866–1956), American automobile magnate, businessman and industrialist
Amos P. Granger (1789–1866), became a general following the War of 1812
John A. Green, a Utica native who served as brigadier general in the Civil War
William Jervis Hough (1795–1869), attorney, a general in the New York Militia of Cazenovia, 8th Cavalry Regiment, and a representative in the United States Congress
Jesse Truesdell Peck (1811–1883), a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church and founder of Syracuse University
Elihu Phillips (1800–1884), member of the New York State Assembly and the Wisconsin Senate
Irene Sargent (1852–1932), art historian and Syracuse University faculty member
Joseph Lyman Silsbee (1848–1913), architect
Lyman Cornelius Smith (1850–1910), American industrialist
Union Major General Edwin Vose Sumner (1797–1863)
Comfort Tyler (1764–1827), early pioneer in Syracuse, New York
Ernest Lynn Waldorf (1876–1943), American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church
John M. Wieting (1817–1888), American lecturer and philanthropist

Gallery

Oakwood Cemetery Syracuse, New York
Dedication Valley Syracuse, New York
Oakwood Cemetery Chapel Syracuse, New York
The Soldier's and Sailor's Plot
Grave of Lt. Col. Augustus Root of the Union Army. He was killed at Appomattox Court House, April 8, 1865.
Memorial to veterans of the American Civil War.
Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse – 1920 – Chapel
Map (1912), Oakwood Cemetery
Memorial to Comfort Tyler
Art Deco bronze door, mausoleum of Charles Edward Crouse
Memorial to Major Gen. E. V. Sumner & wife